A mom's adventures in keeping healthy, keeping her sanity, and making stuff.

The Ultimate Dryer Buying Experience or Why Best Buy Will Never See Me Again.

A few weeks ago our dryer died. Just died. Kaput. Done. Finished. So, we went off in search of a replacement. My mom had given me a few savings bonds she had found stashed away and just asked us to use the money to get a new dryer instead of a used one.

So, we went from store to store. Comparing prices and various dryer functions and brands. Ultimately extraordinarily boring and draining. We were done by the time we made it to Best Buy.

The prices were all essentially the same at every store on the style I had decided on. It wasn’t anything special. I decided I wanted to have variable temp controls and a dryness sensor was an added bonus. So, we decided to just stop with Best Buy and get the dryer from them. They told us that model would take a few weeks as they had sold out of it during their Labor Day sale. That was fine with us. We had already been hang-drying our laundry for a little over a week and figured a couple more would be ok.

We even splurged part of our credit rating and got the in-store credit card as it gave us a bit of a discount. I was told I just needed to give them a couple of days to get me in the system before I paid it off.

So, the purchase and even the credit card all made for a pretty normal sale.

I waited four business before I went in and paid most of our balance. I couldn’t remember the actual balance, so paid slightly under. I figured I would finish paying it when I got my statement. The clerk was also unable to look it up for me. He did try, but it came up as a 0 balance. He said I could go ahead and still make a payment and it would be adjusted once the sale showed up on my account.

That part was actually the only smooth part of this whole fiasco.

About a day after we bought the dryer (maybe two), I received a confirmation email stating my delivery and installation were set for Sept. 29. Cool. That was as I was told.

Well, last night (Thursday, September 26th), I checked my email for the first time in a few days and found one from Best Buy that had been sent to me on Tuesday, September 24th. Telling me that my order was back ordered and they had no date as to when it would be available. WTF? So I read it again. Sure enough, they had sent me an email to let me know that my dryer was in some limbo with no idea as to when it would appear. Oh, and if I did not respond to that email, then they would assume I agreed with that action. What if that email had not made it to me? Why wouldn’t they call someone about information like that??

So, I went into my local store as soon as my two older kids left with my in-laws. I immediately asked for a manager. The guy I spoke to said he was the manager. So, I explained to him about my purchase, the confirmation email, then the back ordered email. I told him this last email told me two very big truths about his company: 1. They lied. If they were not actually able to confirm my order, they never should have sent a confirmation email. 2. Their customer service sucks. For something like this, a customer should be contacted directly. To which he responded, “Oh. Ok.”

I then told him, “What I need you to do is stop my order and credit my bank account the amount I have already paid on the card, then pay the rest to the card.” He told me he would see what he could do. Then credited the entire amount back to the card. He credited a card I had already almost paid off. Then told me I would just have to wait until the credit card company sent me a check. I pretty much exploded at this time. I argued with him and two other schmucks for 30 minutes. I questioned him why I would have to wait for the credit card company to pay me when they were fully capable of taking the funds directly from my account. I also mentioned that for a store specializing in technology, they were sorely lacking in some technology. Bloody hell, I can refund someone through PayPal in a matter of seconds.

I requested they call someone higher up. They refused. I demanded they call the credit company and tell them they need to refund me immediately. They refused. I think it was at about this point that I started breastfeeding my baby. On the counter. He was hungry and it seemed like this was going to take longer. It made those three men very uncomfortable. One of them also started trying to help other customers (the guy who originally told me he was the manager – little snot). I told them I was not leaving until I had my money back. It was at this point that the guy who actually had a manager title on his name tag work hard to convince me that my money would appear in my mailbox in 3 – 4 days. Days. Still not acceptable. However, I was exhausted and sick of their bullshit. I told him I would leave when he called the credit company for me and they assured me my check would arrive in a few days. He took me to a phone away from the other customers and dialed the number for me…

The Best Buy credit line is by far the absolutely worst phone experience I have ever had. And I have had jobs that required me to call DMVs, insurance companies, and cell phone providers. The last straw was when I finally reached the actual customer service line only to be told that due to high call volume, they would need me to log onto their website. I said, “Screw this.” Hung up the phone and left the store. Then found a wonderful dryer at Sears (paid cash with what was left in my savings). It is already in my house, hooked up and ready to go.

So, maybe all of this happened because I was supposed to find that dryer at Sears. Only, I still feel like I have basically paid Best Buy to take back the dryer I never even saw. I also found out that Best Buy is failing as a company. Can’t say I am surprised.

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3 thoughts on “The Ultimate Dryer Buying Experience or Why Best Buy Will Never See Me Again.”

Oh my gosh, that sounds like the single most frustrating experience ever! So glad Sears came through. Sometimes I think situations like these are testing our abilities to use anger in a positive manner. You did brilliantly!

Thanks. I tried to remain calm, but there was a moment when I burst out with a, “so, I am leaving here without a product and $500 less in my account?” Really really loud. I’m pretty sure the whole store heard me.